Mother of parliament

When I speak to Angelika Niebler she is taking a short holiday, albeit one where football games with her eight-year-old are interspersed with preparing speeches. For now, she has good reason to rest easy. The previous week the European Parliament signed off a deal to cap roaming charges, the first big test of her chairmanship of the Parliament’s industry, research and energy committee.

Niebler, a Christian Democrat from Bavaria, was a popular choice among Germans in the centre-right EPP-ED group for the chair during the committee changeover at the beginning of this year. But the promotion came just six months after the birth of her second child. A friend in her political group says that taking the chair was a very difficult decision: “She is a serious politician and wants to be seriously involved. As a chair you can be driven by the secretariat or do something yourself. She wants to do things herself…She decided rightly [to take it].” One official at the Parliament insists that Niebler did not want the job at all. But if Niebler had any doubts, she is not giving them away. Did she want the job? “Absolutely,” she says without hesitating, adding that she feels very happy in the position.

Nonetheless, combining the relentless demands of political life and a young family cannot be easy. Doris Pack MEP, a friend in the EPP-ED group, says that working in the national parliament is easier for a parent, because the European Parliament requires multi-lingualism and endless travel. But officials who work with Niebler say she never speaks of being tired.

She says combining work and family is “a big effort”, but is working well. She talks of the “enormous support” she received from colleagues in the Parliament, who stepped in to cover for her during her three-month maternity leave. She thinks “the atmosphere in Brussels is very mother-friendly” and praises the high-quality child-care services in Belgium. A touch ruefully, she reflects on the climate in Germany, where there is still some stigma attached to working mothers, who are labelled Rabenmütter (raven mothers) for ‘abandoning their chicks’. But things are changing in her homeland. She says: “Ten years ago it was difficult to go to work after having a baby. Quite a lot of people thought you should stay with your child. There was a feeling – it was not outspoken – that you were not a nice mother for your child.” Niebler backs the plans of Ursula von der Leyen, the Germany family minister, to treble nursery places by 2013, but emphasises that she respects all choices that women make. She thinks the job for politicians is to ensure the “infrastructure” is in place so that parents have freedom of choice.

Her CV shows her interest in gender issues: she has been active on the women’s rights and gender equality committee, most notably working on the equal opportunities at work directive. But perhaps the issues closest to her heart are research and technology. She was rapporteur on the telecoms directive and the author of the industry committee’s report on the seventh framework programme for research. A few years before she became an MEP in 1999, she helped to start an association to develop the use of an internet hub in Bavaria. This seems to have been something of a political apprenticeship that encouraged her to stand as an MEP.

Temperamentally she is well-suited to the consensual style of the European Parliament. When a delegation of German MEPs attended a meeting with the Bundestag’s industry committee last month, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, a liberal MEP, recalls that Niebler deftly co-chaired the discussion. He says the domestic politicians were “a little surprised” at the warm atmosphere among MEPs from rival groups. MEPs from all groups mention Niebler’s open and inclusive style as chair. Matthias Groote, a Socialist MEP, says: “She is neutral as a chairwoman, I like her style.” Giles Chichester, the former chair, says she is “polite…considerate and courteous and tough in negotiations”. Christian Ehler, a friend on the EPP-ED group, says that sometimes the price for being liked is not making decisions, but that she avoids this and is strong in her positions.

The proposal to cap roaming charges for mobile phone calls made or received abroad was the first big test. At times she was not sure if it would succeed under the German presidency, particularly when the second round of negotiations became bogged down in technical details. But the former lawyer seems comfortable immersed in the fine print of a dossier. Paul Rübig, the committee’s rapporteur, says that “her strongest point was she knew the dossier”. An official at the Parliament agrees. “She works on content more than most [MEPs],” the official says, adding that he was “shocked” that she knew the voting list by heart. He also suggests that Niebler took a much more dominant role in leading negotiations with the Council of Ministers than committee chairs usually do. This was because some MEPs were concerned the rapporteur was conceding too much ground. But neither Niebler, nor Rübig betray any hint of tensions between them.

More tough negotiations lie ahead, as the committee turns its attention to the European Institute of Technology (EIT), the telecoms review and liberalisation of gas and electricity markets. The policy tide has already turned in Niebler’s direction on the EIT: she says she has always favoured networks rather than a new institution. But there could be a fight over the Commission’s plans for ‘unbundling’ – separating suppliers for distributors in the energy market. Niebler says she is “not persuaded this is the right approach”. She wants to see “strong instruments for the European Commission to intervene if national regulators are not doing their job”.

Her diary looks full until 2009, when she hopes to stand again in that year’s European elections. Niebler says she is not looking at domestic politics – although one friend says her name always crops up when Bavarian politicians talk about rising stars. But she says: “I’m not so ambitious. I’m happy working on a dossier when it gets a good result. Men are much more about fighting for a good title, but that is not in my heart.”

The CV

1963: Born, Munich

1982-91: Studies law in Munich, Geneva and Edinburgh

1991: Barrister, Munich

1995: Becomes a member of the Upper Bavaria Christian Social Union (CSU) Executive

1999: Elected to the European Parliament; becomes chair of the Women’s Union of Upper Bavaria

2000: Becomes member of the ZDF (state) television board

2007: Appointed chair of the committee on industry, research and energy